Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has revealed that his side could be without Harvey Barnes for some time after the former Leicester City man was forced off with injury inside the first half of their thrashing of Sheffield United.
Barnes was making just his second league start for the Magpies after moving from Leicester City over the summer, but picked up a foot injury minutes into the game and had to be substituted before the quarter of an hour mark.
It meant that he was forced to watch on as his side ruthlessly put Sheffield United to the sword, with eight different goalscorers helping them to an 8-0 thrashing of the early relegation candidates.
Now, he may be forced to watch on a fair while longer.
Speaking ahead of Newcastle’s Carabao Cup tie with Manchester City, Howe offered a bleak prognosis.
“He was down after the game because I think he knew it wasn’t your normal injury. If you feel a muscle you tend to think it will be one or two weeks but this was a slightly more complex issue and I think he probably feared the worst because there was nobody around him”, he explained.
“No doubt he will be very disappointed because he was very keen to show his worth and his value and it was a really good opportunity on Sunday to do so. But whatever the injury is and however long it takes to get back we will support him.”
“We know he’s a top-quality player who still has a massive part to play.”
There are fears that Barnes could be sidelined for months with the issue, with Howe describing the injury as ‘quite substantial’, something that would come as a blow both to the Magpies and Barnes himself.
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